Adjustable chair for gunners



Nov. 9, 19148., R. E. DUPLEssls 2,453,208

' ADJUSTABLE CHAIR FOR GUNNERS original Filed April 15,41945 s sheets-sheet 1 'NOV' 9, 1948- R. E. DUPLEssls ADJUSTABLE CHAIR FOR GUNNERS 5 Shets-Sheet 2 ma@ Q original Filedpril 15, 1945 fa w V m C# m @A xm. x 1 1 im l /05 n Uen i010 Een @'EJJu/olessi NOV. 9, 1948. R, E, DUPLESSS 2,453,208

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR FOR GUNNERS Original Filed April 15, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 9, 1943 UNLTED' STATES PATENT ortica.;

Ren E; Dnplessis,yBeverlyi,' Mass., assignorV to..

. United Shoelvliaehinery Corporation', Fleming,.-

wn, Niy Jaa @annexation of Newllersex Original applif'satonv April 1"3;, 1945; Serial' No. 588,176. Divided and thisapplicationlvay 20;A 1946,! Serial No. 670,927

Thisrinyention. relates. tor f chairs, andl especially thoseladapted. to position. the occupant. at. differenti'heights and at. different` angles in a verticabplane.

-Chairaof they. character abovementionedA are used for-theroperators of-guns mounted,.for ex.- ample, within a, turret andl directed. in; their're byasight, thegun. and. sight being movable together... TheY gunner may wish to be so raised thatlhis outlook enableshim. to scan, his surroundings. or lowered for. action. withihis: eye.disposed. in-'arelation` which. will. enable nim to-.look conveniently. through thepsight and to follow said.` sight.in.its. movement; Itis an. object of my invention-tol. enablethe gunner., or other Yoccupant, ofi'the. chair, quickly. and with but little. effort, to cause it to assume the desired positions and. suchrelations a's-Willrbest suit. his.l needs. To this end, I.v combine with. a support. as spaced; standard-s risingl from the floor or table. of-` a. turret, amounting member movable uponJ the supportfmeans for securing the mounting; member vi ndiierent angularpositionsaand: a chair movable upon the mounting member to'diierent angularw and vertical positionsI Withffthis' ca pacity othe chair forindependent adjustment of its mounting and by its mounting, separatere-k quirenen/S.. asjo postiongmay be met. There is preferably means for retaining the chair at one extreme of movement upon its mounting, rearward for example; such means requiring for its release only pressure upon the chair by the occupant, the extent of movement to the opposite extreme beingvariable.y The-height of the chair may be2 determined by the location of a carrier uppnth supporta.. Ashefein disclcsed, the/.chaircarriper ,isi movable. alone. guide means, and'there arey'upperanddower latchesv for engagement withy surfaoespupontlieY chair to hold.. said; chair:4 in its.

opposite.r extremes of elevation, the upper extreme:

being.; preferably. producedbya spring andthe lower-by '.the'fweight. of the chair with its asso,- ciated supporting and. controlling elements, plus the weight of the occupant. The movement-limiting surfaces are preferablyv upon a retaining: membervariable inv positiony this member being conveniently positioned by a nut movable upon a screw rotatable in the chair-carrier.

The present application is a division of an application led in my name in the United States Patent Ofce on April 13, 1945, and bearing the Serial No. 588,176.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one of the several possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1,-beinga side. elevation of the-improved; chair, with. its,- adjustingd mechanism;

Eig. 2,: abroken. front elevation ofy the.Y chair;

and`

E'g. 3i shows.- said chair. inside elevation. arf-.y rangedior use-.by a-.gunner inargun-.turret andi.y in; positionzprepa-ratory toscanning.

At; (ilfis` indicated the: table or. floor. v of a .turretl having. opposite; sidewalls, one of which. is-,lndi1.. cated attz",l andfarfrontrwallsi@(Eig) In each.; side wall is an opening 99 ,.outsideofyawhichaisi; rotatable a disk or plate. lllsfast upon. a; horizon.- talspindlegmf rotatable-.in'standards|116g IllBl-risi..k ing'V friomftheliloonvv 6.0; Upon the exterion off-the plate'. a. gun. Gais.'` mounted, it.` beingJ directed .inlu elevation by the rotation offl the. plate- A as; deter-1 minedzby a. `sight 'S1 movable .withtheM platesd anch` gun at; the rear.4 of. an. opening 390;inrthe.. wall:y

8B: The target. forv the. gun is viewed. throught' thelsighti by faA gunner. occupying a= chair C, whichA isrt'he subject oftheipresent invention.. Pivotedf at.r lfm-.near theupper portion off each standard. illiilfisa mountingaplate. |18, whichmayrbe re`| tained; in dierent: angular.` positions.Y aboutits. pivot. byt'the .screw |8 0-passing through an arcuateslotf |8f21in the bottom of thel plate and'athre'adedt l into thetstandardi Fixedfin upper` and'alowertlugs 1.

|84, il'liupon-.the innerv slide of each-plateL is auf verticalrod |865. Guided'by the rods areupp'er.vl andnlower pairs of .rolls |88; |88; the grooved-fpe` ripher-ies ofi which partially-embrace said rods.

Thee-rollsarev rotatable onacarrierf- |90, atl the-- right of` the occupant of the chair, an'dlon a left-w handi carrier |92, joined .bya tie-rod |94 tov fur--V nishaivcarrier-frame travelingoni-the rods |869-y |851 The chairiC," havingv a seat |Siti-anda'bacle` |98g issupported uponthe tie-rodby-ayoke 200i secured to theforward.: portion of the seat andI having tra-nsverselya'spaced slotsl, 21H-through Whclithe tie-rod passes'to -sel'veas a guide. The.'y slots-are inclined'upwardly toward the frontY of` the-seat.l The chair may thus tilt forwardand-' backfand also mov-e bodily upon the tie-rodas ai guide. At the-rear of` each ofl the carriers |9ll`1 andA |92;- a bellecrank-link 202fhas aflowerfarmkI extending inl-av generally 4horizontal direction,vv inf which arm. is a longitudinal sloty 203 receivingy a guide-projectionl 204sfromthecarrier. Each' lower link-arm is pivoted at 208 to the rear of one side of the yoke 200. The links may thus oat upon the carriers having a compound movement similar to that of the chair. An upwardly extending arm of each link has an arcuate slot 205 through which extends a projection 206 from the chair-back. Below the projection a stop 201 is 3 clamped to the link and may be adjusted to different positions, to limit the degree of rearward inclination of the chair-back and the angle at which the eye of the gunner is presented to the sight. Excessive forward displacement will be prevented by engagement of the projections 208 with the upper ends of the slots 205. i

In upper and lower lugs 2 I2, 2|2 on lthe carrier |92 is journaled a vertical screw 2|4 rotatable by a hand-wheel 216 fixed to its upper extremity. Rotation of the screw raises or lowers a nut`2|8, held against turning by engagement with a Wall of the carrier along which it moves. The nut has an upper contact-surface 220 and a lower contact-surface 222. These surfaces. may be engaged, respectively, by latches 224 and 226 pivoted on the left-hand mounting-plate v |18 and to a bracket 234, rising from the corresponding standard |08. The springs tend to lift the chair until its travel is stopped by the engagement of Ythe .upper rolls |88 with theupper lugs |84. Under the inuence of the occupants weight, the chair will descend until the surface 222 of the nut 2| 8 strikes a stop-plate 230 secured to the left-hand plate |18.

Inthe lowered position, in which the gunner discharges the gun G as directed by the sight S, the chair is held by engagement of the latch 224 with the nut-surface 220. When the gunner wishes'to scan, he releases the latch 2247by depressing its hand-hold 228 and partially relieves the chair of his weight. The springs 232 lift it, the nut 218 thrusting aside the latch'226. When the gunners weight is again applied to the chair, the nut surface 222 rests upon the latch 226, and the chair is held up until pressure upon the upper hand-hold 228 frees it, to descend to its initial firing position under the weight of the gunner. To bring his eye into the best vertical relation to the sight, the gunner may raise or lower thechair C by turning the screw 2|4 through rotation of the hand-wheel 2|6. This will shift the nut 2|8 correspondingly, and thereby vary the vertical relation of the nut-surfacev 220 which contacts the lower latch 224 when the chair is in ring position. When the gunner leans back for firing at the maximum elevation, the chair is in the position appearing in Fig. 1. The chair-back is tilted rearwardly to the angle permitted by the adjustable stops 207, and the seat has slid forward on the rod |94, an offset-portion 231 at the end of the upper edge of each slot 20| receiving the rod and tending to retain the chair -against clockwise displacement. Ii thisl angular position of the chair places the eye of the gunner -too far from or too near to the sight S,this may be, corrected by angular adjustment of the mounting plates |18 carrying the chair, this adjustment being secured by the screws |80. As

the guns and sight are lowered and the body of the gunner is inclined forwardly, the chair follows the change in their direction by tilting forward about the rod |94-, the slot-offsets 231 rmaining in engagement with this. After ring, if the gunner wishes to scan from the chair, raised from the latch 224 and held by the latch 228, he leans forward, lifting and pressing back upon the front of the seat. The slot-offsets now leave the rod |94, and the kyoke 200 slides rearwardly upon said rod, until the forward extremities of the slots reach it (Fig. 3). At .the same time, the links 202 move back along the carrierprojections 204, and the chair-projections 206 may shift toward the upper ends of the slots 205, depending on the position of the body of the gunner. He has thus -been carried rearwardly suflciently to avoid contact with the sight as he rises.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with spaced standards, of a'plate pivoted upon each standard, means yfor securing the vplates in different angular'positions,Y

a carrier guided for movement upon theplates,

means arranged to variably position the carrier N upon the plates, a chair mounted totilt upon the `carrier, and means arranged to variably limit the movement of the chair.

2. The combination with mounting members,

of opposite guide-rods thereon, carriers having` guide-rolls running upon the rods, a tie-rod connecting the carriers, a chair supported uponv the.v

3. The combination with guide means, ofpiaw carrier movable thereon,A a gunners` chairy mounted upon the carrier, a spring for elevating the carrier .along the guide means, upper and lowerlatches associated with the guide means,

a screw rotatable upon the chair-carrier, and a nutfupon the screw, said nut being held against rotation and provided with lower and upper surfaces f-or respective engagement with the latches.

REN E. DUFLESSISf REFERENCES CITED The followingv references are of record in the Y le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTSv 

